Essex spoken-word and rapping troubadour (they like the word, don't they?) Scroobius Pip's CV reads like a short documentary. Normally one-half of chart-bothering duo Dan Le Sac vs Scroobius Pip, the bearded wordy-wonder began his early working life at HMV in Lakeside with Dan, before the pair struck You Tube and XFM gold by sending in a demo of the track, "Thou Shalt Always Kill". They issued their debut album in 2008 on Rob da Bank's Sunday Best label, sampled a piece of Radiohead on "A Letter from God to Man" and hit the Top 30 singles chart last year with "Get Better".

For 2011, the two have decided to explore their own solo creative paths with an album each, starting with a Scroobius Pip set entitled "Distraction Pieces", due out on 19th September via his own Speech Development imprint. Guest contributors include Sage Francis, Zane Lowe, Richard Russell (XL/Gil Scott-Heron), Steve Mason and Natasha Fox, while subject matters, not surprisingly, cross several boundaries such as journalism, soldiers and a cover of Kate Bush's "Feel It".

If you fancy a bit of Pip-spitting, better head to his autumn tour starting in Hull on 25th October, followed by many northern dates (York, Stoke, Aberdeen) before heading further south to London, Portsmouth and finally Wolverton on 12th November. Tickets are on sale now and range from £9 to £11.50.

Meanwhile, his sparring partner Dan le Sac is out on the road in September with B.Dolan and Buddy Peace, performing in London, Manchester etc until Lincoln on 20th. Tickets are a tenner. Le Sac is also solo at Glasgow's Berkeley Suite on 1st October - tickets are just £7.